#i call em moby and dick

[fox-mulder-gets-pegged]

My darling gender is a show and you and I are fucking around in the hair and make up department giggling and putting red lipstick on each other and huffing hairspray 💕💕💕

[alexa-fika]

Just imagining cat child being a zoan cat type she loves napping in the sun(or cuddling against ace or marco) she would rather die than admit that she loves head pats.

When the crew gets to rowdy she just goes to nap next to pops.

Whenever they run into trouble on islands Ace is grinning before letting yn go and attack, because she's so tiny. She just bites the ankles

I think she'd get the nickname "ankle bitter"

Apawling Cattitude (Whitebeard pirates x f!Cat!child Reader)

A/N See what I did there 🐈 im so funny and goofy, anyhow I COOKED HERE, just pure cooked down below, especially on that ankle biter part 😎

Here Reader is replaced by Dokucha as place holder which stands for reader in japanese

Dividers by @/saradika

“Brother Marco, are you done yet?” the young child groans, lounging in one of his examining tables

“Not yet; there are still a few things I need to finish up,” Marco responds without even turning his head around

“I’m cold,” she whines

“There’s a storm outside, so I can’t warm up in the sun, and Ace fell asleep while eating again; you're the only source of heat around.”

He sighs, turning around on his chair and picking up the child from the table, putting them on his lap, and turning back around to his paper

“There, now will you let me finish these papers?”

She smiles, cuddling up to him and closing her eyes, basking in warmth

“You’re so warm, Brother Marco.”

“Yes, yes, I know, but you aren’t making my job easier.” He says as he works on finishing his papers, his actions betraying his words as he begins petting her head, scratching behind her ears

She hums, letting a loud purring sound at the sensation, leaning closer to him

He lets out a snicker at the sound

“Why are you laughing?” She mumbles

“Nothing.” He mumbles before continuing to scratch behind her ears

“I just remembered a conversation in which you said you did not fold at being petted,” he said with a chuckle

“Ten minutes ago, to be specific, if I am not mistaken.”

She jumps up at that, a frown on her young face

“I’ll have you know you are mistaken! I do not fold at something such as pets; I am not some stray cat!”

He raises his eyebrow

“Then, could you explain the purring I heard just a moment ago?”

“Yeah, you need to get your hearing checked.”

“Did you forget about my devil fruit?”

“Must be malfunctioning 'cause there is something wrong with em.”

“You’re such a brat; just admit you enjoy being petted.”

“Hmph,” she scoffed, jumping off his lap

“I'm going to go see if Brother Ace woke up; maybe his ears will be working better than yours, Brother Marco.”

He smiles, watching the child go, leaning his head on his hand

“Do come back if you want more,” he calls out

“Shut up!”

He snickers under his breath but says nothing else as she storms off

Tiny footsteps could be heard hitting against the boards of the Moby dick as Dokucha hurriedly made it to the mess hall, looking for her freckled brother, spotting the rambunctious man over in one of the tables

“Brother Ace, you’re up!” She hollered

Ace, sitting down in one of the tables with the rest of the brothers, quickly wolfs down his food at the sound of the voice

“What’s up?” He asks as he sees his sister approaching, raising an eyebrow

She stretches her hands towards him, opening and closing her hands

He chuckles at the motion before grabbing her and picking her up, placing her on his lap

“What is it, kitty cat?” He teases

“Nothing,” she smiles, cuddling up to him and his heightened warmth

“Sure.” He chuckles, rubbing her ears gently as they are on his hands

“Then why the sudden rush to see me?”

“Brother Marco was being mean, and I was cold,” she mumbles

He chuckles at the small girls voice

“Oh was he? You mean your kitty purr didn’t work on him?”

“I don’t purr!” She said once again, jumping up, glaring at him

“Hah, really?!” he gasps in fake surprise

“Could have sworn I heard it, din’t you, Thatch?” he asked with a grin, looking at his brother, who was putting some plates down on the table

Thatch chuckles, shaking his head with a grin

“I did hear a small purr, yes.”

She pouts about to tell them off when one of the tables when up in an uproar; by the look of it, one of her brothers had started a drinking competition once again

She sighed, jumping off Ace’s lap and continuing on her way to find a place to nap in peace

Whitebeard hums as he hears soft knocking at the door of his chambers

“Come in.”

“Papaw!” She whines, climbing her way into his bed

He chuckles as she climbs all over his bed

“Gurararara” he laughs scratching her head.

“What is it? Is there something you need?”

“Mess hall is too noisy; I wanna nap,” she said, cuddling into his chest with a smile, sighing in relief

“There,There .” He said strokinb her hair as she cuddles into his chest, his own soft smile growing as he looks down at his little one

“Sleep here for now, brats know to keep it down around here”

“Thank you, Papaw”

“Make sure to sleep well.”

Dokucha now sat on top of ace’s shoulders, leaning her face and hands on top of his head as they walked

“What are we looking for again?”

“Izou left ahead of us to intercept the guys we were after; we are his backup,” he answered as he briskly walked through the grassy field

“I see him. Okay, ankle biter, you’re up,” he said, grabbing the girl from his shoulders and putting her on the ground, kneeling down on the ground next to her

“See the guy with the red shirt? He’s a long-distance sniper; I need you to take him out while I go help Izou with the melee fighters.”

She grins, her two incisors poking out of her mouth as she did

“Bite?” she said, looking at her brother, waiting for permission

“Yes, you can bite; go get ’em.”

She grins, shifting into her cat form and running closer to the guy; once close enough, she began prowling, silently approaching the guy until she was right next to them, at which point she pounced on them, making quick work of them, removing their going and easily gaining a surrender

She shifted into her human form, grinning as she kneeled on the now fainted man, chuckling as she watched her brothers make quick work of the rest of the enemies

“Impressive.” Izou praised her, approaching the girl, Ace following behind him, looking down at the man she had incapacitated.

“You’re getting better at that,” he grins, rubbing her head

She gives him a toothy grin in response, purring at the affection

As a reward for her hard work, Izou decided not to comment on the very obvious purring coming out from her as he continued rubbing her head , her ears tilting and twitching as she enjoyed her hard-earned pampering

That scene where Dokucha was kneeling on top of the guy, I was thinking of that one scene where young shanks was doing the same, eating chocolate (?)

Shanks really be stealing hearts since back then, I ‘ll take 1000 chapters on Roger pirates, Thank you < 3

Taglist:

@imaginarydreams

@amethystviolin

@h0n3y-l3m0n05

[mantamind]

I wanna fuck you like an animal

Character: Portgas D. Ace Reader: gender neutral, no anatomy description Word Count: 1.3k CW: explicit, n.sfw, established relationship, protected sex, slight possessivness?, masturbation, using 'cock' and 'dick' to describe male genitalia

Synopsis: You find Ace in your room on moby dick. When suddenly dazed passion turns to feral love making

A/N: english is not my first language also this is the first smut I ever wrote. I thought about this scenario while I went on a walk and I actually liked it a lot. So I figured I should try to write it down as good as I can so I can share it with you. I think this is worthy of being my first tumblr story/post.

MDNI (Minors do not interact)

There he is, on your bed, naked, panting. All he can do is think of you as he runs his hand up and down his dick. Occasionally teasing the tip or massaging his balls. He gently guides his other hand over his defined torso and plays with his nips. His eyes shut in bliss as he let's the back of the other hand rest on his forehead.

You didn't plan to peek through the bullseye in the door while he was clearly enjoying his alone time on another sunny and busy day on board of the moby dick. All you wanted was to rest in your room after you finished your duties. However you can't deny that the sight of Ace pleasuring himself is incredibly hot and sexy. The way his hands skillfully trail over his body stimulating evey spot that absolutely get him going. His expression is lewd and and sinful. His skin looks like it's glowing as the thin layer of sweat reflects the light that's shining through the bullseye.

You can feel yourself getting aroused by the sight of your boyfriend. You quietly open the door and step inside as not to startle the boy who is clearly not aware of the situation he is in. Slowly you step towards your bed.

"Ace." You say softly more like a realisation then actually calling him.

He acknowledges your voice and tilts his head to face you, opening his eyes slightly. Ace is a shameless person so your sudden presence doesn't detain him from continuing his ministration. His lust driven mind doesn't allow him to gather a thought for a reply. Instead he just looks at you in awe. You take in all of him as he is spread out in front of you. You can tell how his gaze shifts and his eyes seem to be more glossy at the time that his desire for you grows.

It shows that for the mere seconds you stand there like this the both of you simply enjoy each others presence in this intimate moment. It's moments like this that feel especially precious for you. It might sound foolish to others but you feel like right at that point your souls resonant just by looking at each others faces.

Ace's starts to slow down his actions until it comes to a stop and gets out of bed. Ace's dazed state slowly turns into fiery passion as he embraces you to meet you with a deep kiss. You are not surprised by his actions as you've been in situations like this or similar a couple of times before.

The first oh so passionate kiss turns into a sloppy, wet open mouthed kiss which eventually turns into a heated make out session. His hands grope your body tightly and you can feel the heat of his fingertips through your clothes. You break the kiss and take a shallow breath. You swiftly move your hand to touch his face.

"You're getting hot baby." You say alluringly

"Did I hurt you?" Ace replies.

Tone matching your seductive manner with a hint of actual concern. You move your face closer to him.

"Nah. Actually it's cute how you lose control over yourself like that." You whisper into his ear seductively. Ace lowers his chin to your shoulder.

"I wanna fuck you like an animal right now." He breathes.

"What's stopping you then?"

He graps your shirt and pulls it up slightly to expose bit of your stomach.

"These clothes."

"Then take 'em off."

Now Ace is not so patient anymore. He removes your clothes and underwear swiftly. You move back to the bed and you lay down on your back. Ace quickly crawls I between you legs and peeks at you with hungry eyes. You watch as he starts to lick and suck on your privy parts. His fingers skillfully caressing your sensitive skin deliciously just like he did to himself before.

"I don't even need to prep you a ton, baby, you're already so eager me, aren't ya?" You nod slightly. Ace starts to push his thick finger inside of you, adding a second one shortly after. He carefully moves and scissors his fingers just enough to loosen you a bit more.

He withdraws his fingers from you and quickly shifts to the side to grap a condom from the nightstand. He gives his dick a couple more quick pumps and rolls the condom on his erect cock. He lines up his cock with your entrance and slowly bottoms out. After giving you a little time to adjust to his girth he takes a brief questioning look at you implying if he can start moving. Again you give an assuring nod.

Ace graps your pelvis and slightly lifts it up. His deep rhythmic thrusts penetrate your core. A little tilt of his hips changes the angle just enough to hit your sweet spot perfectly. Soon enough both of you start panting and the tingling feeling in your lower body becomes more intense. As his thrusts become harder deep groans escape from his mouth.

Ace lifts your legs over his shoulders and leans forward to rest his hands on the sides of your face. The new range allows him to go even deeper than before. His black hair falls into his face, some wisps stick to his sweaty forehead. He still looks at your face closely. Your mouth agape and tongue slightly sticking out causing drool to gather in the corners of your mouth, little droplets of sweat on your face, kitting your eyebrows, glossy eyes, cheeks glowing red, eyes rolled up a bit. It's this face that makes Ace so proud. He knows only he can make you feel this good. Your soft whimpers, moans and panting are only confirm it.

"I need more of you." Ace guides you on all four's. With his cock buried inside of you again he leans forward. His torso pressing against your back. His left arm around your waist and his hand finding a place on your chest holding you even tighter. Right hand placed on the bed beside your shoulder stabilising him. With his body practically wrapped around you like that he is now thrusting in and out of you at such a harsh pace that the bed starts to bang against the wall. Your moans become louder and the knot in your stomach tighter. Both of you are close. At this point his mind is far gone again. No straight thoughts in your heads. Everything is foggy from ecstasy. He told you he'd fuck you like crazy and Ace always keeps his promises. "Ah- Ace!" You cry out as you finally come and your body feels like jelly. "I know Baby." He mutters as he continues to fuck into you but this thrusts start to become more sloppy. "Shit." He hisses as he releases his load. He lowers his head and places a kiss on your shoulder cooing a sweet 'I love you.'

He wants to pull out but you stop him. "Please don't, not yet." So you drop on your sides with Ace still inside of you. You want to make this beautiful moment last just a little bit more. You love spooning with you being the little spoon.

Ace pulls out his now limp dick, shifts to the side and gets out of bed. You glance over your shoulder to see him remove the condom from his cock and throw it in the bin. He turns around and looks at you with this sweet puppy face you fell in love with. He walked back towards the bed and picked you up. "Let's go wash up now."

The sun is setting and another day on the moby dick is almost over. You don't have a lot of time for each other on days like this so he'll pay special attention to aftercare helping you to wash and dress up with a lot of kisses, jokes and hugs.

[tgrailwar-zero]

"Alright! Strafe! Let's keep it moving!"

You heard the ADMIRAL bark, as the ship started to turn. The ship strafing helped dodge the majority of MOBY DICK's attacks, as several large eruptions in the water appeared behind you.

MUSASHI stood at the bow, preparing to fire.

Miss.

Miss.

Miss. Miss. Miss.

Miss. Miss. Miss. Miss.

Miss.

Miss.

MUSASHI: "..."

...

Then--

She closed her eyes, her 'aura' shifting slightly as she lowered one of the blades, only focusing the one outward. Her stance shifted, becoming more stalwart and firm, before her eyes flashed and snapped open.

MUSASHI: "Solid- like Earth!"

A magic bullet fired outward, striking against the shadow. There was a low groan that came from the shadow… but nothing more. It seemed like the distance made it hard to hit anywhere meaningful-- it was just a dark patch in the water until you got a better view of it.

Still… after almost emptying BOTH clips, the last shot seemed to strike true. She spun the chamber of both gunblades, the ammunition refilling itself.

ADMIRAL: "It took you a bit, but that's quite a shot! You like guns, Samurai?"

MUSASHI: "You know, some people are sword-purists, but guns are almost unmatched until you can close the distance to use a sword in the first place… still, I'm not a crack-shot with them. They don't play as nice with my Mystic Eyes as swords do. Not yet, at least."

ADMIRAL: "I see… One of you scoundrels on the deck! How's the Samurai's shot looking?"

PIRATE: "W-Well, Admiral… there's no blood in the water yet."

ADMIRAL: "Hm, then those bullets aren't gonna do much unless they strike somethin' soft. Eyes or mouth, if I was a betting woman. Guess we'll need to up our firepower. Look here-- the cannonballs are heavy- they won't do a ton of piercing when it comes to Moby Dick, but it's good for softening the bastard up to leave openings for more potent strikes. The Magic Cannons are a bit more potent and can pierce the big bastard's hide, but they consume magical energy."

ADMIRAL: "And, as a gift from our fair Priestess- voila."

She produced a coin from her jacket, letting it dance between her fingers.

ADMIRAL: "I just call it my 'Lucky Coin'. It's got one charge in it before it has to sit back and recharge the magical energy inside, but it'll fire a helluva blast."

It pulsed with magical energy. Familiar magical energy. It seemed similar to a 'Trigger Key'…

You're still at a long range distance from MOBY DICK.

See this post to choose SABER's actions!

SHIP STATS

SHIP'S HULL: [ X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X / X ]

MAGICAL ENERGY: [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ] [ X ]

'LUCKY SHOT': [ X ]

[neonmetro]

Went back and reread your infodump post because that shit is like Nicotine /J

This is in no way related to Ocs or anything but likeeee I couldn't help it

Kirby mention so I'm just gonna rant rq

I have all the Kirby games up to forgotten lands, Super Nintendo? Wii U? YEAH I GOT EM

I literally can't because the Super Nintendo is the LOVE of my life, Doctor Mario and Tetris was MY SHIT, i also used to play shooters on the WII U until I lost the gun piece. . .sigh those were the days. Not to mention Hip Hop dance experience which if you want me to be honest it's just Hip Hop just dance and wayyyyy better in my humble opinion. PLS TELL ME YOU HAVE PLAYED ON THE SUPER NINTENDO, also I used to have a Mortal Kombat arcade system until it broke. . .still need a replacement piece/

ALSO YOU SHARE THE LOVE OF MARINE BIOLOGY???? PLS PLS PLS I LOVE MARINE BIOLOGY AND HAVE LOVED IT SINCE I WAS IN THE 3RD GRADE, I did half of my science projects around Jellyfish and sea slugs. . .the ocean is so scary but so beautiful. LIKE SEA ANGELS???? AND LION FISH??? DON'T GET ME STARTED ON JELLYFISH AND SHARKS CHAT. I could rant for hourrs about Marine life, also like coral is so pretty. . .I honestly think people should start caring more about the environment !!!! To keep beautiful things like this alive !!! (If you want to infodump by all means this is an invitation hehe. . .)

Another hyperfixation of mine is Astronomy. . .sighs. . .if I were to talk about astronomy I fear I wouldn't be able to send this ask because it would just be too long. . .tumblr is such a hater

and then butterflies and castles . . .I really like castles, um

Butterflies though !!! They are great, I find it silly that a lot of the Morpho butterflies are named after Greek myth. Like the Morpho menalaus, the Morpho achillies, and Morpho Telemachus.

I also really like fairy tales, classical literature, vampires. . .sighs, vampires

PLS FEEL FREE TO RANT ABOUT ANY OF YOUR INTERESTS OR HYPERFIXATIONS PLEASE THAT WOULD BE GREAT ACTUALLY, I RUN OFF OF INFO DUMPS

-Ulysses loving anon

HELP ME?!?!??!?!?! CRAZY ANALOGY

HELL YESSSSSSS god all those games are iconic.... i'll be so honest i haven't played many nintendo games, i only got a switch this year LMAOOO and i've only played pokemon + splatoon 2.... i love kirby with all my heart though i have a little squeaky toy of him in my room and he is poyo poyoing all over the place

i mean i've watched some nintendo gameplay videos but none of those games.... sorry

most games i've been able to play are on the phone .... bc i'm not that good at playing on my computer (cause i draw instead so i have to drag myself away)

GODDD!!! I LOVE MARINE BIOLOGYYY it was so intense in junior year that i wanted to become a marine bio major (it's such an odd choice considering my first major is business marketing....?) but we ball tbh i'd still like to take a course in it

HGNGNGHGGH I FUCKING LOVE JELLYFISH YOU HAVE NOOOO IDEA!!!! the lampocteis and moon jellies are my absolute favorites, comb jellies are peak and so are moon jellies

honestly i'm really lucky i can travel a lot bc i get to go to so many aqauriums. we fucking ball. like everytime i go to an aquarium i take five million pictures LOLLL like its a problem lmfao!!!!! (like i went to a aquarium in tokyo and it was baller)

outside of jellyfish my favorite is orcas, whales, and other deep sea animals. fuck i love them so much. (i call orcas assholes all the time because they are but i love them for it) smth smth moby dick being 50% whale facts only fed into the marine bio fixation

sea slugs are awesome too. look at those sluggos go eating sponges and becoming poisonous as a result. oh i also love sphinophores (hi portuguese man o' war) they're awesome

i rarely get to make things about my marine bio interest... but while playing webfishing i almost exclusively fish out at sea and i bother my friends about fun facts all the time

HONESTLY? TRUE. that's kinda the main way to get ppl to care lol make it about little guys that are cute and don't you want them to be alive instead of dead?

coral bleaching is such a insane problem man....... make sure you pay attention to what sunscreen you're using!!!!!!!!

AHHH ASTRONOMY..... i used to be really into it when i was younger but erm. it kinda died after awhile and i'm hesitant to get back into it after an incident lol... i still love the planets tho (thank you sailor moon you are the source of many awakenings for me)

castles are awesome i'm ngl.....

OHHH!!! I DIDN'T KNOW THAT ABOUT BUTTERFLIES THAT'S SO COOL ACTUALLY... AND REALLY ICONIC ONES TOO THAT'S CRAZYYYY

its actually so cool that scientific names for animals are named after greek heroes its so cool. like the genus and family name for albatrosses are named after diomedes and i was like HOLY SHIT!!!!!

HELL YESS FAIRY TALES AND CLASSIC LIT!!!! those are so peak (i love fairy tales and ballets with a burning passion. they're awesome. i need every adaptation of a fairy tale IN MY VEINS. NOW.)

oghghgh i really love metro systems. i love how color coordinated they are and how they're genuinely the best kind of public transportation there is, its so cool... also the aesthetics are so good.

i also really love pop art (i'm from new york can you tell) GENUINELY SUCH AN AWESOME MOVEMENT AGAINST WHAT IS AND ISN'T CONSIDERED ART!!!! GOING AGAINST ALL STANDARDS AND QUALIFICATIONS!!!! also i just love bright colors and tone dots lmfao.... (i'm not the biggest fan of abstract art but pop art just hits diff)

[bookquest2024]

100 Books to Read Before I Die: Quest Order

The Lord Of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford

Under The Net by Iris Murdoch

American Pastoral by Philip Roth

The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Crime And Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

A Passage to India by EM Forster

Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

1984 by George Orwell

White Noise by Don DeLillo

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner

The Stranger by Albert Camus

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Oscar And Lucinda by Peter Carey

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carré

Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

Ulysses by James Joyce

Scoop by Evelyn Waugh

Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Middlemarch by George Eliot

Are You There, God? It’s me, Margaret by Judy Blume

Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

Moby-Dick by Herman Melville

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Herzog by Saul Bellow

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Don Quixote by Miguel De Cervantes

A Bend in the River by V. S. Naipaul

A Dance to The Music of Time by Anthony Powell

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin

Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

The Rainbow by D. H. Lawrence

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Nostromo by Joseph Conrad

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman

Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Little Women by Louisa M Alcott

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth

Watchmen by Alan Moore

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez

Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne

On the Road by Jack Kerouac

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen

The Trial by Franz Kafka

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Money by Martin Amis

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

[larry-the-demon]

whats a clipper ship and why is it better (i assume) than other ships and why is it important to the story. they never made me read moby dick in school so I'm genuinely interested

HELLO HELLO imback on my PUTER so i can type so so fast SO FIRST OF ALL genuinely clipper ships are not important to moby dick at all lmao 💀i just like them cos theyre the fastest sailing ships ever so uhh quick breakdown

clippers are the product of american shipbuilders putting a packet ship-esque build on a larger merchant ship

a packet ship is a sort of ship that was small and fast, used specifically for trips from america's east coast to england, usually liverpool. these fuckers were the fastest ships when they were built, and many many sailors died on their voyages bc the captains tried to make em fast as possible

so. we've got tiny fast ship. we've also got large slow merchant ships used in britian for the china and india trade. we've got a man (donald mckay) who rlly likes building ships and is good at his job. puts a packet-esque build on a large-scale ship

for context: the british ships were referred to as 'kettle-bottoms' cos they had flat bottoms that were built mostly to avoid stupid tonnage laws (that the british put in place) (everybody fuckin hated the tonnage laws) and the clippers had a much more streamlined bottom & a differently shaped rudder. they also carried a fuckton of sail, had 3 mainmasts and around 4 sails on each of those

SO the clipper was built. first used for shit like the china trade in the 1840s, then later on until around 1855-56 used as transportation to california for the gold rush. theyre most commonly recognized for the gold rush stuff cos they had to swing round cape horn every single time & that place is fucked UPP for sailing

so these babygirls are the fastest sailing ships ever built (the most notable one technically being the lightning, she was very VERY fast) (my favourite being the sea witch, from when the clippers were still kinda in Prototype Mode)

so yeah these speedy fucks kind of heralded in the end of the age of sail. they were built, had their beautiful and sexy and fleeting run, and then everything turned to motTHER FUCKING STEAM SHIPS FUCK FUCK PISS SHIT

and uhhh that is most of it LMAO but the ships used in the whaling industry were. just called whaling ships 💀💀or smth. ive been trying to find more info on them & on whaling but the most ive found is a 100-pg book of whaling anecdotes which are GOOD but dont tell me anything abt the ships they sailed on other than that the people who hunted whales up north were the ones who invented the crows nest!!!!!!!! auaugh!!!!!

& take all this w a grain of salt bc im fully j dragging it from my memory of arther h clarks book on clippers. im onlhy in the beginning stages of reading clippers: greyhounds of the sea (which has MUCH more information!! very pog) so. that is how it is lmao. unironically thank u so much for asking this im having the timeof my life rn :)

[shembl]

Moby Dick FNP Chapter 22 - Merry Christmas!

Posting this here our of order compared to the other stuff for a couple of reasons. The first reason is it’s Christmas, so merry that, for all who celebrate or observe, and the second reason is that Whale Weekly has absolutely blasted past our pace and I think we should probably stick with the zeitgeist a bit I think.

We’ll still be pasting chapter by chapter, but here’s a little christmas treat; the sight of me desperately clinging to the discourse in an attempt to piggyback off Whale Weekly’s popularity.

We have more chapters in the bank which I’ll get around to posting soon, but in the meantime, Merry Christmas and please enjoy this slightly reworded, list-bulleted version of Chapter 22 of Moby Dick, now for Normal People

🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳 🐳

Chapter 22: Merry Christmas

There were a few last things to be done on the ship before we got going, mostly this was Charity, that nice lady from earlier, she was dropping off various gifts and nice things for the crew, including a nightcap (the hat type, not a drink) for this guy called Stubbs who was the second mate and also her brother in law, and also a spare bible for the steward, who’s name and familial links I am hazy on.

Then, Peleg and Bildad came out and stood all official-like.

Peleg turned to the chief mate and said “Now, Mr. Starbuck, are you sure everything is right? Captain Ahab is all ready—just spoke to him—nothing more to be got from shore, eh? Well, call all hands, then. Muster ’em aft here—blast ’em!”

“No need of profane words, however great the hurry, Peleg,” said Bildad, “but away with thee, friend Starbuck, and do our bidding.” I don’t know why, but Bildad always seemed to phrase things in the most ominous way possible.

Talking like a pair of big important order-givers weren’t they? At least for people who weren’t actually going out to sea with us! Don’t get me wrong, they probably know their stuff, but really shouldn’t Ahab have been the one up here shouting at everyone? Then I thought about it and remembered that his leg was bad, and that even if that wasn’t case, some captains just like to get drunk in their cabin, I’ve seen plenty of that in my time on boats, so really it was all okay. I relaxed a little. Not for long though, because just then Peleg started yelling at everyone.

“Aft here, ye sons of bachelors,” he cried, as the sailors lingered at the main-mast. Everyone over there started running around, wild-eyed.

“Strike the tent there!”—was the next order. I’d thought it was odd that there was a tent on deck to start with, so I suppose that taking it down was like a ritualistic re-boatening of the vessel, because tents don’t go to sea.

“Man the capstan! Blood and thunder!—jump!”—was the next command, and the crew did all these things.

The ship was getting under way, and anyone who knows ships knows that under way means it’s time for singing. Now, Bildad was never much of a party man in my experience, and he showed that at this time by singing some sort of boring religious song and tutting at the sailors who were en-masse, raucously roaring the hit shanty of the time “The Girls of Booble Alley.” 

I found myself somewhat comforted by this bizarre scene, there was us on a ship made of bones, with heads full of dark prophecy and a crew singing rude songs, but somehow this pious little paragon of virtue called Bildad, maybe we weren’t all totally damned, if someone like that could put up with us, could have a stake in all this, then surely God wouldn’t fuck us all up, would he?

By now I had stopped moving the capstan and told Queequeg to do the same, I can’t really think and do manual labour at the same time and I had quite some pondering to do.

My leg almost exploded with some outside blunt force trauma slamming into them. I looked around and saw Peleg’s own leg dragging back across the deck towards him. He was swearing at everyone and especially at me. That was my first kick of the voyage.

“Is that the way they heave in the marchant service?” he roared. “Spring, thou sheep-head; spring, and break thy backbone! Why don’t ye spring, I say, all of ye—spring! Quohog! spring, thou chap with the red whiskers; spring there, Scotch-cap; spring, thou green pants. Spring, I say, all of ye, and spring your eyes out!” And so saying, he moved along the windlass, here and there using his leg very freely, meanwhile.

“Captain Peleg must have been drinking something to-day. Methinks!” I quipped hilariously as my leg went completely numb.

Finally the anchor was up, so were the sails, and the ship was moving. It was almost enough to make you forget that today was Christmas, nobody had gotten me a present, but instead of a little to open, the world itself lay open before me, truly the greatest present of all. And in that world there were whales waiting for me to hack up!

It wasn’t exactly a white christmas, no snow or anything like that, but it was bloody cold and bloody wet and you know what that means, weather fans, that means it was icy!

Massive icicles were forming on all the ropes and bones about the place, hanging down like big cold daggers ready to take your eyes if you look the wrong way, for a seasoned sailor like me, it was just business as usual. Business on Christmas Day.

The winds howled and the sea splashed at us but all the time, right on the front of the ship, steering us through was weird old Bildad, singing a merry, optimistic and religious tune, cutting right through all the weather-related atmos.

“Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood,

         Stand dressed in living green.

      So to the Jews old Canaan stood,

         While Jordan rolled between.”

I wasn’t fully sure what he was actually talking about, but that’s art for you isn’t it, it’s not about the content, it’s about how it you feel, and I was taking some time out from all that backbreaking labour to have a stand around and a feel. Losing myself to the music I felt optimistic, I felt like it wouldn’t be long before I was off running and rolling around in verdant fields with a happy sky and loads of lovely food within easy reach, I let myself go there in my mind, away from this damp and cold body that imprisons it, away from the ship made of bones and the guy who kept yelling at me and kicking me. For just a moment I was free. I was optimistic.

Eventually it was time for Bildad and Peleg to leave. They’d gotten us out of the port, so it was time for them to head back to land. Their little sailboat pulled up and they got ready to go. Peleg seemed alright but there was something odd about old Bildad. He clearly didn’t want to leave, it wasn’t just a boat, here is a list of things it also was to him;

-A ship set for a very long and perilous voyage

-A ship with thousands of his dollars invested in it

-A ship with an old (almost as old as he) buddy in it (the captain) who was set to revisit all the all the terrors of the pitiless jaw

-A ship with everything important in his life contained in it

To express this anguish, poor old Bildad lingered long and;

 -Paced the deck with anxious strides

- Ran down into the cabin to say goodbye a few more times

- Came back on deck and looked windward, at the wide and endless waters

- He looked towards land

- He looked aloft

- He looked left

- He looked right

- He looked everywhere

- He looked nowhere

- He wrapped a rope around its pin

- He wrapped his own hand around Peleg’s

- He held up a lantern so that his face could be seen, and he wasn’t crying.

- He and Peleg stared at each other for a bit

- He said “Nevertheless old friend Peleg, I can stand it. yes. I can.”

Peleg took it all a little bit more sensibly, like a philosopher, a philosopher who isn’t afraid to cry.

And with that, Peleg offered a few words of support to his old pal “Captain Bildad—come, old shipmate, we must go.” he whispered before going full yelling-mode at the rest of the ship; “Back the main-yard there! Boat ahoy! Stand by to come close alongside, now! Careful, careful!—come, Bildad, boy—say your last. Luck to ye, Starbuck—luck to ye, Mr. Stubb—luck to ye, Mr. Flask—good-bye and good luck to ye all—and this day three years I’ll have a hot supper smoking for ye in old Nantucket. Hurrah and away!”

“God bless ye, and have ye in His holy keeping, men,” murmured old Bildad, almost incoherently. “I hope ye’ll have fine weather now, so that Captain Ahab may soon be moving among ye—a pleasant sun is all he needs, and ye’ll have plenty of them in the tropic voyage ye go. Be careful in the hunt, ye mates. Don’t stave the boats needlessly, ye harpooneers; good white cedar plank is raised full three per cent. within the year. Don’t forget your prayers, either. Mr. Starbuck, mind that cooper don’t waste the spare staves. Oh! the sail-needles are in the green locker! Don’t whale it too much a’ Lord’s days, men; but don’t miss a fair chance either, that’s rejecting Heaven’s good gifts. Have an eye to the molasses tierce, Mr. Stubb; it was a little leaky, I thought. If ye touch at the islands, Mr. Flask, beware of fornication. Good-bye, good-bye! Don’t keep that cheese too long down in the hold, Mr. Starbuck; it’ll spoil. Be careful with the butter—twenty cents the pound it was, and mind ye, if—”

“Come, come, Captain Bildad; stop palavering,—away!” and with that, Peleg hurried him over the side, and both dropped into the boat.

Ship and boat diverged; the cold, damp night breeze blew between; a screaming gull flew overhead; the two hulls wildly rolled; we gave three heavy-hearted cheers, and blindly plunged like fate into the lone Atlantic.

[sanjisprincesswifey]

cupid's help ⋆ portgas d. ace x reader

summary: thatch plays cupid

♡: pre-marineford ace content. gender-neutral reader. 4000+ words. sfw content.

realization hits you like a wave.

first, it was your knees; they became wobbly and unstable anytime someone so much as mentioned his name.

next, it was your mouth, you couldn’t stop the endless praise, or what most would call rambling, over his abilities, his personality, his face, anything really.

now, it was your heart, the rapid beating, the pause when he would enter any room you happened to be in, the butterflies that swarmed your entire being.

the second division commander, however, was a ladies man. he could have any woman he wanted, and he quite often did, bringing random women back to the ship whenever the moby dick docked on a habited island.

you’d see them the next day in the galley, with Ace’s arm loosely hung over their shoulder. it was never the same woman, but they always resembled one another: y/h/c hair, their nose shape and their heights were roughly the same. they were all so beautiful, ace definitely knew how to pick ‘em.

each night would leave you feeling empty, the brisk air of the ocean leaving a trail of goosebumps all along your body despite the thick blanket you had.

it didn’t help that ace’s room was across the hall from yours, even if it hadn’t been you were pretty sure you could hear his low groaning and the women’s high-pitched moans regardless of distance.

however, you were not jealous.

ace was your friend, you were...happy for him. happy he was happy. that’s all that mattered right?

you couldn’t care less that you longed for him, to pull you into his toned arms, to kiss his freckled cheeks all day long, to be the one that was slumped under his arm each morning during breakfast.

maybe one day you’d have the-

“your food is going to get cold, ya know?”

blinking a few times, thatch grazed you with a knowing smile, pestering you about the food that remained untouched on your plate. he sat across from you, turning his head to follow your gaze to ace, who was whispering in his recent hookups’ ear only leaving you a burning feeling in the pit of your stomach.

“you should tell him.”

only huffing in response, you roughly picked up your food with your fork and harshly bit into it.

“he’s got a big head but he’s pretty much clueless to everything around him.”

you had to agree, the poor fire fist wasn’t the brightest. “I know, but-"

“but what?” he interrupted, knowing you’d use the same ploy as an excuse as to why you didn’t just talk to him about how you felt.

“but,” you punctuated with a loud clatter of your fork against the table, “if he liked me back he wouldn’t be with all those women.”

the fourth division commander was silent only for a second, before coming up with his own plan on your behalf.

“seems like you’ll need help then, huh?” you rolled your eyes before meeting his, his demeanor was nothing but serious.

“i don’t need help” you grumbled, attempting to finish your meal despite ace loudly canoodling a woman he didn’t even know.

thatch shrugged his shoulders, making conversation with your crewmates around you.

stupid thatch...though he did have a suave, charming personality, it’s not like he could help you. right?

the question tugged at your brain all day long, the thought of ace made you helplessly weak in more ways than one. is help really all you need to give you that push to happiness?

that night you tossed and turned, more so than usual. you covered your head with your pillow, ace’s low grunts echoing into your room despite the locked wooden barrier between him and you.

gritting your teeth together, you let a single tear fall from your left eye holding back your sniffles. the pain swallowed you whole, only dreaming allowed you the sweet release from your heartache.

.。･:*:･

the following morning you made your way to the top deck where most of the crew had been enjoying the warm summer weather.

this is where you caught a good shot of ace basically sticking his tongue down a different girls’ ear.

you swallowed your pride, stomping over to thatch who smugly took a swig of his ale and raised his eyebrow at your disgruntled figure. “fine. you can help me.”

“great! come with me!” he tugged at your arm, the both of you leaving to the lower decks with your other crewmates snickering at your inaudible ‘help me’ before you descended to the floors below.

.。･:*:･

“hey! pay attention to me!” the girl cried, squishing ace’s cheeks so he would look at her.

ace was preoccupied with both the thought and sight of you leaving the deck with thatch.

the skin-on-skin contact you two had burning a fire within his soul, jealousy scorching his heart.

“hm? oh, right. sorry.” he did his best to refocus, glancing at the door you went into every now and then.

.。･:*:･

“and what are we doing here?” you question, your fingers running over the spines of the books. luckily the library was one of the few places on the ship that you couldn't expect to run into ace. you weren’t even sure if the poor boy could read.

thatch carefully reads over the titles of the books, pulling one out before showing you the cover.

“a cookbook? it doesn’t seem like you’d need it,” you zest, furrowing your brows together earning a tut from the ship’s cook while he shuffled through the pages.

“it’s not for me, it’s for you.” he shoots at you, a condescending grin hinting at his lips before shuffling through the pages, smiling when he found what he was looking for. “what do you know about ace?”

...was this a trick question? you knew so much about ace.

“umm, he likes to eat?“ it was more of a question than a statement. despite the accuracy of his answer, you were unsure if it was the one he was inquiring for.

thatch nods and offers you a view of the page he’s currently on.

“correct. for his birthday last year, right before you joined the crew, i made him this,” he pointed to a dish that appeared on the page. “he loved it. the man asks for it all the time. you," he points to you while shoving the book in your face, "should make it for him.”

“what? me? no, i don’t know how to cook.” you held your hands up in defense, knowing your cooking skills were mediocre at best and incapable of the intricate dish that was splayed out on the page in front of you.

“don’t worry, i’ll help you,” he assures, though calming your nerves very little.

“okay, but you have to promise it won’t be hard.”

the man chuckled at your childish behavior before sticking out his pinky waiting for you to interlock yours. “i promise.” he smiled once you did, jutting his elbow out for you to interlace your arm around it as you two made your way to the kitchen.

.。･:*:･

ace marches down the hallway, an annoyed look on his face. he hadn’t seen you since earlier.

he rarely came down this hallway; come to think of it, he didn't even recognize this hallway, but he wanted to be thorough in his search just to be sure.

he rounded the corner, hiding behind it as he saw the doors to the library burst open.

you were still with thatch?

his eyes immediately went to the act of affection you two were sharing and the laugh you let out after he probably told you one of his idiotic jokes.

his body’s natural warmth grew in intensity as his jealousy festered inside.

.。･:*:･

“what’s next?” thatch asks, stirring the bowl of liquid ingredients together. your tongue poked out of your mouth, tapping the pencil against your cheek.

“3 egg whites! mixed in individually with the liquid ingredients.”

the kitchen was filled with many scents, none of which you were familiar with. the aromas of the many spices and fixings for the dish combating against one another, which you weren’t completely sure if that was a bad thing or a good thing. handing the eggs to thatch, you tenderized the meat adding the spices that the book called for.

“i never asked you why you’re helping me,” you sheepishly bring up.

thatch only stopped his stirring for a second, his sympathetic eyes looking up from the bowl and over to you.

“because I hate seeing you so sad. we all do. you think none of us notice?”

your cheeks heated with embarrassment, were you really that obvious about it? now your only thought was whether or not you should jump ship now or later.

“i, i…” were there any words that could defend or save you from the bashfulness your heart felt. the tears pricked in your eyes, the jealousy you felt finally settling into despair rather than anger. “i think i love him, thatch. i really think i do.” he chuckled, smiling down at the bowl before setting it down on the counter.

although he could not relate to how you felt, he understood the sincerity behind your words. how your barely audible voice shook with trepidation and fear in coming to terms with reality.

thatch, and almost everyone aboard the ship, observed how you would stare at ace when he was too busy stuffing his face to notice.

how you bothered everyone when you wondered if ace was coming back from his mission yet. ace was the only one on board who was too much of a moron to notice and it pained all your friends to see you hurting so badly because of his idiocy.

if neither of you were going to stop being chicken and admit your feelings, then someone had to intervene. thatch, unfortunately, pulled the short straw.

“this better be a damn good meal then!” he heartily laughed, only to cause you to begin laughing too.

the both of you continued to prepare the meal, finally able to set it in the oven to finish up cooking. the hardest part was not over, despite your body aching for rest as you helped clean up the kitchen. thatch was incredibly particular about the cleanliness of his kitchen.

“wait,” realization hit you for the second time that day, “what am I supposed to say?” the thought of actually confessing how you felt dawning on you, your hands growing clammy, and your brow developing a sweat.

thatch internally rolled his eyes, he had to help with everything, didn’t he? opening a cabinet, he handed you two wine glasses accompanied by a bottle of wine.

“sit,” he commands and normally you wouldn’t take demands from a man, but you were too nervous and fearful to think clearly. he pours wine in both of the glasses, lighting a candle between you on the counter. “ace is a sucker for sweet words, physical touch, and food.” thatch points out, settling himself in the seat across from you.

“and how would you know that?” you question, hoping he’d admit to something precarious you could laugh at him for.

“never mind that,” he grabs your hand that was lying on the table, a surprised gasp escapes your lips, but allowing the affection for the time being. “when you serve Ace his food, you’ll need to set the mood. candles and wine.”

he takes a sip of the vicious beverage, nodding at the bitterly sweet taste. “after he’s stuffed his stupid face, you’re going to lean into him, maybe hold his hand, rub the back with your thumb.” he demonstrates with his own hand on yours, you mentally take note of thatch’s touch wanting to mimic the exact feeling.

“well, what if his hands aren’t on the table? they're in his lap or something?”

thatch pulls from your hands, cracking his knuckles allowing himself to clear his mind before answering with a caress to your cheek.

“you’ll want to graze him softly, like this” his thumb rubs against your cheek, your body involuntarily blushing at the unfamiliar touch. “he’s a bitch for this type of affection, so you could soften him up this way first.”

the thick smell in the air lingered throughout the air of the entire ship. anyone with a nose could smell the meat that was cooking in the oven, luckily your crewmates knew better than to interrupt thatch while he was cooking. well, except for one.

ace didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the delectable scent was too irresistible as he left a trail of drool behind him. just as he was about to push the door open, his eyes widened at the sight through the porthole.

thatch’s hand brushed up against your cheek, and he, once again, made you laugh before swatting his hand away and taking a sip of your wine.

ace smushed his face against the small circular window, his fists clenching so tightly that he swore he tore open his skin.

how could you be with him?

nothing against his fellow commander, but someone with your beauty and intelligence shouldn't be with someone like him! you should be with someone like, like ace!

his heavy body pushed the unlocked door open, his body collapsing to the ground with a thick ‘thud’ causing both you and thatch to jump up from the intimate setting and stare at the fire fist who scrambled to get himself together.

“ace?”

you stood there in disbelief of his presence, usually, he’d be with a girl flirting her up to get her into his bed by now.

thatch walked over to him, helping ace up on his feet. “are you okay?” confusion riddled your gaze as you scanned his body for any obvious injuries.

“um yeah! I’m great!” he dusted himself off, readjusting the hat on his head.

“wait, what were you doing?”

ace’s face drains from color, mindlessly flickering his eyes between you and thatch, searching his empty head for an answer. although it takes ace a while to find an answer himself, it doesn't take long for you to put the pieces together.

“were you spying on us?” only a red hue returns to his cheeks having been caught red-handed in his discrepancies. “thatch, would you mind giving us a moment?”

“yeah, but remember the meat needs to be taken out in about two minutes!” you push him out the door, the fear for the meal stronger than the fear for his friend.

the door closes with a soft click as you lock the top lock, ace, who was nervously twiddling his thumbs offered an awkward smile before you gestured for him to sit.

“so, are you gonna tell me what happened?” you regained your seat too, pouring wine in your glass and the empty one that thatch left behind. his fingers tapped the counter rhythmically, chewing on the inner part of his cheek. you let the silence speak for itself, taking a swig of your wine every so often.

“are you going to tell me what's going on between you and thatch?” he spits it more gratingly tone than he intended, but the jealousy he was undergoing ran deeper than he wished.

you almost choke on your wine, the tart flavor burning your throat on its way down. ace’s death stare could burn holes right into anyone’s soul, but his eyes were covered by the brim of his hat. “well?”

“first of all,” you tapped his hat so the brim no longer hid his embarrassment, his freckled face more discolored than usual. “drop the attitude,” leaning your head down attempting to meet his musing gaze. “second of all, there is nothing going on between thatch and i.” his head shot up, surprising you with the speed of his actions.

“r-really?”

you almost wanted to smack him upside the head for even thinking that you and thatch would be an item. but, how would he even come across that conclusion in the first place?

“yes really. what would make you think that..?” your voice trailed off towards the end, the answer was right in front of your eyes. “you were spying on us, weren’t you?” you answered your own question.

the guilt on ace’s face was all the answer you needed. “i see, and why would you be doing that?” placing your finger underneath his chin, forcing him to meet your icy stare. thatch said physical touch, right?

ace’s thoughts rattled in his head. your voice echoing in that soft tone you only had with him once, one fateful night.

his heart began beating so loudly that he couldn't even feel the rapid speed it was racing at. with your gentle touch against his skin, and your doe eyes sparkling under the dim candle-lit room he swore he died and flew to heaven and you were his angel.

“ace?” your voice sang his name, snapping him out of whatever daydream he got lost in. he blinked feverishly before taking ahold of your hand and grasping it tightly in his. you did your best to not submit to his affections, knowing you had the upper hand before any of this even started.

“i don’t know, okay! seeing you and thatch together, it just made me mad.” his hands curled into balled fists as you put two and two together; his eyes spoke for themselves revealing the feelings he refused to verbally introduce as they nervously glanced between your own and your chest. your heart felt as if it could pound out of your chest, your hands felt slippery, barely able to hang on to the marble counter. you wished you could bring yourself to admit your feelings right here at this moment, but your fear holds you back.

“like seeing you with those women doesn’t make me mad?“ your tone is venomous, you are taken aback by your own words but refuse to stand down. ace had never seen this side of you, one that was fueled by anger and jealousy, but unidentifiable to him. “fuck,” your voice trembles, fingers shakingly grasping onto the counter that stops between you and ace. “why,” you gasp for air, the sudden realization that your body was not breathing until this very moment. “why couldn’t you have wanted me?”

your body erupts in a powerful, yet heartbreaking sob. your throat burns from the capacity of your pain, hands reaching for your throat as you drop to the ground. despite the sudden friction between your knees and the floor, your heart was the main proprietor of the ache your body felt. mind flashing between the repetitive moans and the sight of Ace’s lovers transitioning through your mind. your wailing is surely heard by the entirety of the ship, but you didn’t care. your chest was stinging so deeply that nothing else mattered.

‘ding!’ the chime of the timer for the meal that you and thatch had so readily prepared sounded throughout the room. you didn’t let your sobs interrupt the finely planned meal, rushing to the oven to take the meat out before it was overcooked. though your sobs consumed your being, you refused to let thatch’s hard work go to waste on your idiocy.

“i wanted it to be you,” ace brings himself to say, almost as if he had been on the verge of tears himself. the agitation your body had felt suspended, heart-catching in your chest before you made eye contact with the fire fist. his breath was heavy and he couldn’t resist the flame that came about in his grip on the counter. “every woman that I brought back,” his breathing was uneven, panting opposite of yours, “i wished it was you.”

swallowing harshly, you paused in your piercing of the meat in front of you, wishing you had the gall to scream at him how much you wished the same. though ace had not wished to wreak this pain upon you, knowing this was not the way he believed this moment to go down in his head when he contended his true feelings.

“i wish it was too.” your soft voice was like butter, smooth and delicate. you spoke so quickly he thought he misheard you. the meal you so gracefully prepared for ace now sat atop the stove, the steam wafting through the tense air you two had created. “the meal is for you. eat it, i don’t care anyhow.” your tear-stained cheeks were cold, the open window providing a brisk, windy air to hit your face with.

the drastic climate change from earlier in the day mimicked your emotions: bipolar, almost unpredictable by the change of plans. you quickly dashed for the door, hoping your bed would envelop your sadness just as it did every night. your hand wavered just above the doorknob threatening to leave this scene and ace behind, but before you could, ace hooked his muscular arm around your waist pulling you to him. your tinier frame struggled and writhed around in his grip, attempting to push him away.

“wait! please, just wait!” both of your breathing was ragged and your faint sobs scoured your body once again. “y/n. i’m sorry,” he spoke into the back of your head, not minding the smell of your shampoo. “i need you. i, i lo-“

before he could complete his sentence, you whipped around and pinched his cheeks so that you brought his face down, hovering over yours. your breath, and his, was uneven almost as if you were searching the other for your missing breath. your lips ghosted his and were tingling with adrenaline, while you refused to look anywhere but his black, piercing eyes. ace’s hands found the small of your back, sneaking underneath the loose-fitting shirt you were wearing. his fingertips were warm and his touch was delicate, holding you so softly almost as if he thought you’d shatter if he held you any tighter.

ace’s eyes were glossy and had a pleading look to them. a crack of thunder outside was the only thing that could break you away from the intense eye contact. the acclimate weather surprised ace, flinching and gripping onto your skin tighter than before. you used the advantage at this moment to finally bring your lips together and flutter your eyes shut; ace was shocked by the sudden affection but responded quickly by kissing you back. his lips moved in tune with yours, his breath was minty and fresh mimicking the coolness of his lips. your mind was racing a million miles an hour, ace’s lips were the only thing grounding you.

ace’s lips moved in sync with your own, guiding the kiss with a passion that he yearned for, for so long. ace dreamed of this moment for months; his mind swept with thoughts of all the women he had taken to bed. all the women that had features similar to your own, imagining that each of them was you.

“i love you” you breathed in between kisses, wasting no time running your fingers through his soft black locks. his moaned lightly into your mouth at the pleasing tugging, letting his hands feel your skin like a touch-starved man.

“i love you,” ace gathered your bottom lip between his teeth, pulling slightly before letting go and returning his lips to yours “so much.” his hand gripped at your shirt, pulling it over your head. his eyes wandered your body as he let his hands do the same until a key rattling in the lock broke the two of you out of the intimate moment.

you both gasped, scrambling to put your shirt back on. thatch stood before you, shocked at the sight of the young adults before him. before examining the both of you, hair disheveled and lips puffy. he chuckled and strolled over to the oven, continuing the slicing of the meat you didn’t finish.

“i owe izo thirty berries.” he didn’t need to turn around to know that the both of you, hand within the others, were staring at him in confusion “i thought you guys would be fucking on my counters by now.”

a blush rose of both of your cheeks, allowing the chef a moment of pride knowing that his plan had worked.

likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated! (✿◠‿◠)

[commonwealthoccurences]

I heard you are looking for distractions.

I have this idea in my head of Hancock having four sons, all of similar ages. Sam, Ben, Paul, and Thomas.

Samuel Adams Hancock is the oldest. At 14 he envisions himself taking his father's place as mayor. He copies everything John does but John always tells him that Fahrenheit is the one to learn from. John lets Sam join him on the balcony and tells him that Goodneighbor should always remain a haven for anyone that needs a place to be free. Sam is always trying to be taller and wiser than he is and Hancock knows his eldest son's ego is the thing that would hold him back from being mayor.

Benjamin Franklin Hancock is the middle child. Sole taught Ben how to read but Hancock showed Ben how to love reading. When Ben was a toddler, Hancock would sit him in his lap and read "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Moby Dick." Ben always felt overshadowed by his older brother's desire to be mayor. So Ben keeps his head in his book and eventually opens up a school and printing press in Goodneighbor.

Paul Revere Hancock is the youngest and the trouble maker. John had never had to come up with so many nonviolent and loving ways to discipline a child until Paul came around. Paul was the first one to bring girls around the Statehouse, but at least there John can keep an eye on him. Paul is the first to pick up chems and the first to pick fights. When Paul was 15, he called out a Brotherhood of Steel Soldier walking through Goodneighbor threatening the ghouls. Paul was lucky to win that fight. John had to be stern in front of Sole but he couldn't have been prouder of his little boy. "He needed hurtin so I hurt 'em" Paul said. "You're damn right, son. I'm proud of you" John replied.

Thomas Paine Hancock was born last but did not live to see age 3. He lives in John's memories now. Memories of holding his infant for the first time. Watching his three older sons promise to protect Thomas. Memories of Thomas' cough ringing through the whole house. Watching his son get weaker and fragile. Memories of hugging his older sons and swallowing the knot in his throat when he told his sons there was nothing they did wrong.

This is so well written I love it so much. The descriptions, the fact that you can see little influences of Hancock in each of them, and the honestly heartbreaking realism of the last paragraph??? If you ever have more to say about this please do I can't express how good this is! Seriously, y'all are better writers than me, thank you for sending this in <3

[dazaithefirst]

AtsuLucy & AtsuKyou

Disclaimer:

I do not hate any of the characters, except Fukuchi Ochi, and I respect every ship BSD has. If I could marry every single one of 'em, I would. This is a post of my opinions about AtsuLucy and AtsuKyou. Also, there are manga spoilers here so I hope you wouldn't mind. I hope I won't get canceled here like how I got in Facebook because I ship AtsuLucy and not AtsuKyou/Shin Soukoku. As I've said earlier, I respect all the goddamn ships and I just want somebody to here my opinions or I just want to simply say it here. If I've said a wrong thing, please notify me. Thank you and take your time reading it!

I am a big AtsuLucy shipper. To be honest, I like how they look out for each other. Here are some of my insights and why do I ship them:

They experienced the same type of abuse (not that I wanted to be abused lol) so there might be times that only the two of them can know what's this and that (okay, is head canons alrighty? I hope so);

Atsushi is a good guy. In fact, he is a cute adorable fluffy little angel but we all know that he doesn't like his enemies like the Port Mafia and The Guild. But when they defeated Lucy's Anne of Abyssal Red, he felt sorry and said that he understands what she feels;

The way Atsushi sympathizes with her despite knowing just a part of her past, I love it. I need more of it. It makes my heart flutter;

Also, the way he approached Lucy after losing to him, is so cute, awkward and soft all in one. Imagine your enemy asking if they can do anything for you, damn Lucy is one lucky girl;

Manga Spoiler, when the ADA was accused of being the nation's terrorist, Lucy made a rallied outside the government just to say that "Atsushi is not evil" and "The Detective Agency is innocent", oh how I wished she worked in the ADA even as a part time (it was Ango who spilled that Lucy did it and maybe the latter didn't expect that);

Atsushi was certain that he saw Lucy after the Three Way War and said that he hopes Lucy isn't teaming up with the criminal organizations (Port Mafia's one of the organizations I guess) to take revenge on them. And please, notice how Atsushi was straight looking at the paper he was holding and then BAM! he saw Lucy, I mean if it's the tiger's ability then otay, I'm not gonna be delulu anymore *sniffs*;

Lucy gave Atsushi the parachute she was saving for her own escape. She let him escape Moby Dick through her ability and Atsushi was worried about her safety for she's gonna be trapped there. He even promised to save her there and he was going to went he infiltrated Moby Dick but sadly, Shin Soukoku suddenly sailed so even I have forgotten that Atsushi promised that he was going to save Lucy. It was funny for me when they got a chance to have a little casual talk when they've retrieved Kyouka's parents' documents;

Manga Spoiler, lastly, Lucy was a great asset when AtsuKyou are heading next to the Sky Casino, where Sigma is. After some events happened in the Sky Casino, Sigma fell on the sky and Atsushi jumps out of the Sky Casino and catches him but he eventually let go of Atsushi. Nathaniel's ability hits Atsushi's tail, which is his support, and he was knocked out. Then my girl Lucy saw it and jumps off the Sky Casino too (like it wouldn't cost her life), she reached out for Atsushi's hand and then voila! Welcome to Anne's room;

Another one is Lucy calls Atsushi by the name "Toraneko" which means tabby cat like how Akutagaw calls Atsushi "jinko." And then I just realized that Kyouka never called Atsushi's name or maybe it's just me?

Anyways, I am itching for Bungou Stray Dogs Season 4 ackk!!

Yes. I did shipped AtsuKyou at the beginning of the series. Okay, lemme just share some of my insights about this ship:

I shipped them when I literally thought she was 16 but it turned out that she's 14. It's the first red flag for me. I know that Atsushi is a baby but Kyouka is literally a minor.

At first I thought it's was fine 'cause they only have 4 years of gap;

But had anyone never thought that Kyouka's behavior towards Atsushi is like Akutagawa's behavior towards Dazai;

Remember that one scene in season 2 where Atsushi was finally caught by The Guild and Kyouka just stood there crying and just said, "Why? Why did you show me the light? Why did you give me hope? Goodbye. Please don't give me anymore light."

Okay, I admit. That was very pathetic. But as I think about it, she had trauma and was literally abused for three years or so, so I really can't blame her. Kyouka was told that she is more suited in the dark and all she knew that time is that she killed her parents with her ability. What a sad life, bub;

When I've read the manga, I've read it after season 2 'cause I was growing impatient for season 3, there were so many changes to the anime like the second picture of AtsuKyou up there. Atsushi was supposed to land on Kyouka's shoulders and not in her lap;

The scene where Atsushi asked Kyouka how's the bathwater was so cute. They looked like a couple to me and it just reminded me that I'm gonna be single forever;

And when Kyouka passed the entrance exam, I was so happy (of course who wouldn't). I dunno why but I saw a platonic relationship in my laptop's screen. (Their "Welcome home", "I'm home" of them looks like they're a married couple tho). But when Kunikida scolded the both of them, I saw siblings. ISTG THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY EYES!

To be straight to the point, I think she's either unhealthy attached to Atsushi because he showed her light or she's just overprotective of him (seriously, a 14 y.o girl protecting a 18 y.o baby? otay).

Kyouka is one the characters with a great character development. Some say her character is boring and I can't blame y'all 'cause she have a lil bit of Sasuke's aura, like that one quiet kid sitting beside the window with the face saying that her clan was murded (Kurapika is now drowning in an indescribable emptiness) but Kyouka has a visible soft side so she cute, otay? Tho I wonder where did she learn to drove that car on Dead Apple at the age of 14 'cause my 14 y.o ass can't even step on the gas and brake without shaking in fear. Long story short, despite everything happening on BSD, I'm still a AtsuLucy shipper. I'm still rooting for Shin Soukoku, but AtsuLucy is my heaven.

[justforbooks]

The 100 best novels written in English: the full list

After two years of careful consideration, Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Take a look at his list.

1. The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan (1678)

A story of a man in search of truth told with the simple clarity and beauty of Bunyan’s prose make this the ultimate English classic.

2. Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)

By the end of the 19th century, no book in English literary history had enjoyed more editions, spin-offs and translations. Crusoe’s world-famous novel is a complex literary confection, and it’s irresistible.

3. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift (1726)

A satirical masterpiece that’s never been out of print, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels comes third in our list of the best novels written in English

4. Clarissa by Samuel Richardson (1748)

Clarissa is a tragic heroine, pressured by her unscrupulous nouveau-riche family to marry a wealthy man she detests, in the book that Samuel Johnson described as “the first book in the world for the knowledge it displays of the human heart.”

5. Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (1749)

Tom Jones is a classic English novel that captures the spirit of its age and whose famous characters have come to represent Augustan society in all its loquacious, turbulent, comic variety.

6. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne (1759)

Laurence Sterne’s vivid novel caused delight and consternation when it first appeared and has lost little of its original bite.

7. Emma by Jane Austen (1816)

Jane Austen’s Emma is her masterpiece, mixing the sparkle of her early books with a deep sensibility.

8. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

Mary Shelley’s first novel has been hailed as a masterpiece of horror and the macabre.

9. Nightmare Abbey by Thomas Love Peacock (1818)

The great pleasure of Nightmare Abbey, which was inspired by Thomas Love Peacock’s friendship with Shelley, lies in the delight the author takes in poking fun at the romantic movement.

10. The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket by Edgar Allan Poe (1838)

Edgar Allan Poe’s only novel – a classic adventure story with supernatural elements – has fascinated and influenced generations of writers.

11. Sybil by Benjamin Disraeli (1845)

The future prime minister displayed flashes of brilliance that equalled the greatest Victorian novelists.

12. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)

Charlotte Brontë’s erotic, gothic masterpiece became the sensation of Victorian England. Its great breakthrough was its intimate dialogue with the reader.

13. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

Emily Brontë’s windswept masterpiece is notable not just for its wild beauty but for its daring reinvention of the novel form itself.

14. Vanity Fair by William Thackeray (1848)

William Thackeray’s masterpiece, set in Regency England, is a bravura performance by a writer at the top of his game.

15. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1850)

David Copperfield marked the point at which Dickens became the great entertainer and also laid the foundations for his later, darker masterpieces.

16. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850)

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s astounding book is full of intense symbolism and as haunting as anything by Edgar Allan Poe.

17. Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)

Wise, funny and gripping, Melville’s epic work continues to cast a long shadow over American literature.

18. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865)

Lewis Carroll’s brilliant nonsense tale is one of the most influential and best loved in the English canon.

19. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868)

Wilkie Collins’s masterpiece, hailed by many as the greatest English detective novel, is a brilliant marriage of the sensational and the realistic.

20. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868-9)

Louisa May Alcott’s highly original tale aimed at a young female market has iconic status in America and never been out of print.

21. Middlemarch by George Eliot (1871-2)

This cathedral of words stands today as perhaps the greatest of the great Victorian fictions.

22. The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope (1875)

Inspired by the author’s fury at the corrupt state of England, and dismissed by critics at the time, The Way We Live Now is recognised as Trollope’s masterpiece.

23. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884/5)

Mark Twain’s tale of a rebel boy and a runaway slave seeking liberation upon the waters of the Mississippi remains a defining classic of American literature.

24. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

A thrilling adventure story, gripping history and fascinating study of the Scottish character, Kidnapped has lost none of its power.

25. Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome (1889)

Jerome K Jerome’s accidental classic about messing about on the Thames remains a comic gem.

26. The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (1890)

Sherlock Holmes’s second outing sees Conan Doyle’s brilliant sleuth – and his bluff sidekick Watson – come into their own.

27. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1891)

Wilde’s brilliantly allusive moral tale of youth, beauty and corruption was greeted with howls of protest on publication.

28. New Grub Street by George Gissing (1891)

George Gissing’s portrayal of the hard facts of a literary life remains as relevant today as it was in the late 19th century.

29. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy (1895)

Hardy exposed his deepest feelings in this bleak, angry novel and, stung by the hostile response, he never wrote another.

30. The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (1895)

Stephen Crane’s account of a young man’s passage to manhood through soldiery is a blueprint for the great American war novel.

31. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

Bram Stoker’s classic vampire story was very much of its time but still resonates more than a century later.

32. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (1899)

Joseph Conrad’s masterpiece about a life-changing journey in search of Mr Kurtz has the simplicity of great myth.

33. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser (1900)

Theodore Dreiser was no stylist, but there’s a terrific momentum to his unflinching novel about a country girl’s American dream.

34. Kim by Rudyard Kipling (1901)

In Kipling’s classic boy’s own spy story, an orphan in British India must make a choice between east and west.

35. The Call of the Wild by Jack London (1903)

Jack London’s vivid adventures of a pet dog that goes back to nature reveal an extraordinary style and consummate storytelling.

36. The Golden Bowl by Henry James (1904)

American literature contains nothing else quite like Henry James’s amazing, labyrinthine and claustrophobic novel.

37. Hadrian the Seventh by Frederick Rolfe (1904)

This entertaining if contrived story of a hack writer and priest who becomes pope sheds vivid light on its eccentric author – described by DH Lawrence as a “man-demon”.

38. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame (1908)

The evergreen tale from the riverbank and a powerful contribution to the mythology of Edwardian England.

39. The History of Mr Polly by HG Wells (1910)

The choice is great, but Wells’s ironic portrait of a man very like himself is the novel that stands out.

40. Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm (1911)

The passage of time has conferred a dark power upon Beerbohm’s ostensibly light and witty Edwardian satire.

41. The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford (1915)

Ford’s masterpiece is a searing study of moral dissolution behind the facade of an English gentleman – and its stylistic influence lingers to this day.

42. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan (1915)

John Buchan’s espionage thriller, with its sparse, contemporary prose, is hard to put down.

43. The Rainbow by DH Lawrence (1915)

The Rainbow is perhaps DH Lawrence’s finest work, showing him for the radical, protean, thoroughly modern writer he was.

44. Of Human Bondage by W Somerset Maugham (1915)

Somerset Maugham’s semi-autobiographical novel shows the author’s savage honesty and gift for storytelling at their best.

45. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton (1920)

The story of a blighted New York marriage stands as a fierce indictment of a society estranged from culture.

46. Ulysses by James Joyce (1922)

This portrait of a day in the lives of three Dubliners remains a towering work, in its word play surpassing even Shakespeare.

47. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis (1922)

What it lacks in structure and guile, this enthralling take on 20s America makes up for in vivid satire and characterisation.

48. A Passage to India by EM Forster (1924)

EM Forster’s most successful work is eerily prescient on the subject of empire.

49. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos (1925)

A guilty pleasure it may be, but it is impossible to overlook the enduring influence of a tale that helped to define the jazz age.

50. Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf (1925)

Woolf’s great novel makes a day of party preparations the canvas for themes of lost love, life choices and mental illness.

51. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

Fitzgerald’s jazz age masterpiece has become a tantalising metaphor for the eternal mystery of art.

52. Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner (1926)

A young woman escapes convention by becoming a witch in this original satire about England after the first world war.

53. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway (1926)

Hemingway’s first and best novel makes an escape to 1920s Spain to explore courage, cowardice and manly authenticity.

54. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett (1929)

Dashiell Hammett’s crime thriller and its hard-boiled hero Sam Spade influenced everyone from Chandler to Le Carré.

55. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner (1930)

The influence of William Faulkner’s immersive tale of raw Mississippi rural life can be felt to this day.

56. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (1932)

Aldous Huxley’s vision of a future human race controlled by global capitalism is every bit as prescient as Orwell’s more famous dystopia.

57. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons (1932)

The book for which Gibbons is best remembered was a satire of late-Victorian pastoral fiction but went on to influence many subsequent generations.

58. Nineteen Nineteen by John Dos Passos (1932)

The middle volume of John Dos Passos’s USA trilogy is revolutionary in its intent, techniques and lasting impact.

59. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller (1934)

The US novelist’s debut revelled in a Paris underworld of seedy sex and changed the course of the novel – though not without a fight with the censors.

60. Scoop by Evelyn Waugh (1938)

Evelyn Waugh’s Fleet Street satire remains sharp, pertinent and memorable.

61. Murphy by Samuel Beckett (1938)

Samuel Beckett’s first published novel is an absurdist masterpiece, a showcase for his uniquely comic voice.

62. The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)

Raymond Chandler’s hardboiled debut brings to life the seedy LA underworld – and Philip Marlowe, the archetypal fictional detective.

63. Party Going by Henry Green (1939)

Set on the eve of war, this neglected modernist masterpiece centres on a group of bright young revellers delayed by fog.

64. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien (1939)

Labyrinthine and multilayered, Flann O’Brien’s humorous debut is both a reflection on, and an exemplar of, the Irish novel.

65. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck (1939)

One of the greatest of great American novels, this study of a family torn apart by poverty and desperation in the Great Depression shocked US society.

66. Joy in the Morning by PG Wodehouse (1946)

PG Wodehouse’s elegiac Jeeves novel, written during his disastrous years in wartime Germany, remains his masterpiece.

67. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946)

A compelling story of personal and political corruption, set in the 1930s in the American south.

68. Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (1947)

Malcolm Lowry’s masterpiece about the last hours of an alcoholic ex-diplomat in Mexico is set to the drumbeat of coming conflict.

69. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen (1948)

Elizabeth Bowen’s 1948 novel perfectly captures the atmosphere of London during the blitz while providing brilliant insights into the human heart.

70. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)

George Orwell’s dystopian classic cost its author dear but is arguably the best-known novel in English of the 20th century.

71. The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (1951)

Graham Greene’s moving tale of adultery and its aftermath ties together several vital strands in his work.

72. The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger (1951)

JD Salinger’s study of teenage rebellion remains one of the most controversial and best-loved American novels of the 20th century.

73. The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow (1953)

In the long-running hunt to identify the great American novel, Saul Bellow’s picaresque third book frequently hits the mark.

74. Lord of the Flies by William Golding (1954)

Dismissed at first as “rubbish & dull”, Golding’s brilliantly observed dystopian desert island tale has since become a classic.

75. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)

Nabokov’s tragicomic tour de force crosses the boundaries of good taste with glee.

76. On the Road by Jack Kerouac (1957)

The creative history of Kerouac’s beat-generation classic, fuelled by pea soup and benzedrine, has become as famous as the novel itself.

77. Voss by Patrick White (1957)

A love story set against the disappearance of an explorer in the outback, Voss paved the way for a generation of Australian writers to shrug off the colonial past.

78. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960)

Her second novel finally arrived this summer, but Harper Lee’s first did enough alone to secure her lasting fame, and remains a truly popular classic.

79. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark (1960)

Short and bittersweet, Muriel Spark’s tale of the downfall of a Scottish schoolmistress is a masterpiece of narrative fiction.

80. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1961)

This acerbic anti-war novel was slow to fire the public imagination, but is rightly regarded as a groundbreaking critique of military madness.

81. The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing (1962)

Hailed as one of the key texts of the women’s movement of the 1960s, this study of a divorced single mother’s search for personal and political identity remains a defiant, ambitious tour de force.

82. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (1962)

Anthony Burgess’s dystopian classic still continues to startle and provoke, refusing to be outshone by Stanley Kubrick’s brilliant film adaptation.

83. A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood (1964)

Christopher Isherwood’s story of a gay Englishman struggling with bereavement in LA is a work of compressed brilliance.

84. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote (1966)

Truman Capote’s non-fiction novel, a true story of bloody murder in rural Kansas, opens a window on the dark underbelly of postwar America.

85. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (1966)

Sylvia Plath’s painfully graphic roman à clef, in which a woman struggles with her identity in the face of social pressure, is a key text of Anglo-American feminism.

86. Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth (1969)

This wickedly funny novel about a young Jewish American’s obsession with masturbation caused outrage on publication, but remains his most dazzling work.

87. Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor (1971)

Elizabeth Taylor’s exquisitely drawn character study of eccentricity in old age is a sharp and witty portrait of genteel postwar English life facing the changes taking shape in the 60s.

88. Rabbit Redux by John Updike (1971)

Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom, Updike’s lovably mediocre alter ego, is one of America’s great literary protoganists, up there with Huck Finn and Jay Gatsby.

89. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (1977)

The novel with which the Nobel prize-winning author established her name is a kaleidoscopic evocation of the African-American experience in the 20th century.

90. A Bend in the River by VS Naipaul (1979)

VS Naipaul’s hellish vision of an African nation’s path to independence saw him accused of racism, but remains his masterpiece.

91. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie (1981)

The personal and the historical merge in Salman Rushdie’s dazzling, game-changing Indian English novel of a young man born at the very moment of Indian independence.

92. Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (1981)

Marilynne Robinson’s tale of orphaned sisters and their oddball aunt in a remote Idaho town is admired by everyone from Barack Obama to Bret Easton Ellis.

93. Money: A Suicide Note by Martin Amis (1984)

Martin Amis’s era-defining ode to excess unleashed one of literature’s greatest modern monsters in self-destructive antihero John Self.

94. An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro (1986)

Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel about a retired artist in postwar Japan, reflecting on his career during the country’s dark years, is a tour de force of unreliable narration.

95. The Beginning of Spring by Penelope Fitzgerald (1988)

Fitzgerald’s story, set in Russia just before the Bolshevik revolution, is her masterpiece: a brilliant miniature whose peculiar magic almost defies analysis.

96. Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler (1988)

Anne Tyler’s portrayal of a middle-aged, mid-American marriage displays her narrative clarity, comic timing and ear for American speech to perfection.

97. Amongst Women by John McGahern (1990)

This modern Irish masterpiece is both a study of the faultlines of Irish patriarchy and an elegy for a lost world.

98. Underworld by Don DeLillo (1997)

A writer of “frightening perception”, Don DeLillo guides the reader in an epic journey through America’s history and popular culture.

99. Disgrace by JM Coetzee (1999)

In his Booker-winning masterpiece, Coetzee’s intensely human vision infuses a fictional world that both invites and confounds political interpretation.

100. True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey (2000)

Peter Carey rounds off our list of literary milestones with a Booker prize-winning tour-de-force examining the life and times of Australia’s infamous antihero, Ned Kelly.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[midnightluck]

I love your writing and your take on Ace, Sabo, and their dynamic with the rest of the Whitebeard Pirates. For your prompts maybe a universe where Thatch runs into Sabo undercover and drags him back to the Moby Dick in a "must feed this child" style and then Ace is face to face with his dead brother? You don't have to follow the prompt that closely, I just love how you portray Sabo interacting with Ace and the WB pirates.

what’s that, you want more of my favorite thing ever? well, if you insist!

“Heads up,” a cheerful voice says, and Thatch jerks upright and looks for the source. His hair flops into his eyes, and he curses Haruta again.

There’s a blond guy with scars looking at him, and Thatch glances around and says, “What?”

The guy nods towards a kid who’s running away through the crowd. “Kid was gonna pickpocket you,” he says. 

“What?” Thatch squawks. He tries to pat his pockets, but his hands are full, and the movement drops his new bag of apples to the ground. “Hey! Wait!”

“Kid didn’t get anything,” the guy says, scooping up the apples and shoving most of them back in the bag. “Just be more careful, yeah? You’re a pretty easy target with your arms full like that.”

Thatch grimaces; he knows, but Haruta ditched him ten minutes ago with an incoherent squeal and a ‘be right back!’ that was blatantly untrue. “Thanks,” he says, and the guy carefully places the apple bag on top of the box of spices he’s carrying on his hip. “Appreciate the warning.”

The guy nods. “Anytime,” he says, grinning and bouncing an apple on his palm. It looks a lot like the apples in Thatch’s bag. “I love helping chefs. You are a chef, right?”

“The best of ‘em,” Thatch says proudly. He runs a kitchen for the ship on the Grand Line with the highest consistent complement, and he does it damn well. He eyes the bouncing apple, then gives the guy a quick once-over. “You hungry, kid?”

“Always,” the guy says, and the apple rolls off his arm and pops up from his elbow, landing neatly back into the bag. “You offering?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Thatch says. “You saved my wallet; least I can do is feed you.” The grin he gets in return is bright and broad, and just a little bit familiar. “I know you?”

“Nah, don’t think so,” he says, then offers a hand, looks back at Thatch’s full arms, drops it and chuckles. “Need a hand?”

Thatch immediately dumps the spice box, the produce basket, and the apples in the kid’s arms. They weren’t heavy, per se, but it was getting awkward. “Thanks,” he says. “My sibling was supposed to help me out, but–poof. You know.”

“Siblings,” the guy agrees with an eye roll, shifting the load and trailing behind him.

“Are we insulting our siblings?” Haruta asks, appearing out of nowhere. “Cause if we are, my brother here’s the worst–”

“We weren’t insulting siblings,” Thatch cuts in, handing off the heavy parcel of wrapped meats. “We were insulting you.”

Haruta makes an undignified noise, then gives the kid the hairy eyeball. “Have I already been replaced?”

The kid shrugs. “I was here. You weren’t.”

“This is my new favorite sibling,” Thatch immediately declares. “New favorite sibling, this is the least favorite sibling. Haruta, meet–what’s your name?”

“Haruta,” the kid repeats, head tilting and eyes narrowing at the other Commander.

“No, that’s my name; you can’t have it,” Haruta says.

“Haruta of the Whitebeards, Haruta?” the guy asks, and Haruta’s eyebrows go up.

“Yeah,” Haruta says. “Who else did you expect from one of Thatch’s siblings?”

“Division Commander Thatch?” the guy says. “Hey, wait, that’s not fair! You don’t look like your poster at all!”

“Yeah, well, someone here knocked me overboard on our way to the island and washed out all my hair gel,” Thatch says pointedly. Haruta just looks back at him, entirely unashamed. “Is this gonna be a problem?”

“No, not at all,” the guy says. “I just didn’t know I was among celebrities.”

“We’re celebrities,” Thatch tells Haruta. “You hear that? We’re famous.”

“I like you, new guy,” Haruta decides immediately and flings one free arm over the guy’s shoulder. “I’m gonna call you Mister Blue.”

“What? Why?” Thatch asks. “I’m sure he has a perfectly good name. Don’t you, kid?”

“I sure do,” Blue says, and then proceeds to shut up and not give it.

“That’s why,” Haruta says. “So, Blue, how’s Thatch convince you to follow him home? Are we keeping you?”

“As much fun as it sounds, I’m afraid I’m spoken for,” Blue says, grinning at Haruta. 

Haruta grins back, and there’s something there that catches Thatch’s attention. That’s not Haruta’s friendly smile, that’s Haruta’s interested smile.

Well. Shit.

“He saved me from a pickpocket,” Thatch says. “I was an easy target because my hands were full because someone ditched me in the middle of shopping.”

“So you got his wallet back?”

“I stopped him from losing it,” Blue demurs.

Thatch squints from one to the other. “I feel like there’s a conversation here that I’m not getting.”

“That’s because there is,” Haruta tells him, eyes still on Blue.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you could mean,” the kid says, but he’s still grinning.

Thankfully, they’re at the docks already, and Thatch dumps his load of groceries into the little launch they’d taken over. “Okay,” he says, finally pulling back his hair again. “So you coming to dinner or not?”

“Oh,” Blue says, eyes on Haruta, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Thatch tosses a quick braid back over his shoulder and turns to catch Haruta’s eye. Haruta’s smile is sharp, but not predator sharp, and Haruta doesn’t say no, so that’s as good as agreement.

“Great, then help me get this boat outta here,” he says, and with all of them working on it, they’re on the water in no time.

“Been on this island long?” Haruta asks as they set off.

“Oh, not very,” Blue says. “Lovely place, though, isn’t it?”

“Oh, very,” Haruta echoes back. “What’s your favorite part?”

“The company, of course. You meet the most interesting people.”

“Don’t you just,” Haruta says, sitting forward to brace hands on knees. “You from around here?”

“Oh, I shouldn’t say so,” the kid answers. “I’m more of a come-and-go sort, honestly. You know the type, I’m sure.”

“Oh, of course; most of our siblings are similar.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard,” Blue says, and Haruta sits upright and stares at him.

“I dunno what your deal is, kid,” Thatch breaks in, “but baiting Haruta is usually a bad idea. You know, just so you know.”

“Oh, I know,” Blue says and grins, something almost as sharp as Haruta’s, “but I never met a bad idea I didn’t like.”

“Seems like a dangerous way to live,” Haruta says, and then they arrive.

“Stop playing for a second and help me get this stuff to the mess,” Thatch says, and thankfully they do.

The process goes faster with three people, and Thatch is already putting a massive pan on the stove when the last bag is brought in. “You two start peeling potatoes,” Thatch says, shoving them towards a corner. “You can at least be productive while you have your weird flirting battle.”

“It’s not–”

“We’re not battling–”

“–he’s a kid, I wouldn’t–”

“–exchange of information–”

“Ha! I knew it! You’re totally a spy–”

Thatch slams knives down on the small table between them. “Peel,” Thatch says, and stomps out to find Ace.

Ace is, as always, napping in the shade of the main cabin. Thatch, with his limited patience, grabs him by a boot and starts hauling. “Come earn your keep,” he says grimly as Ace snorts and flails himself awake. “I need you to preheat the oven and light the range.”

“Am I just a walking match to you?” Ace snarls, scrabbling around to get on his feet. “Hey, leggo! I can walk.”

“You’re my favorite match, if it helps,” Thatch offers, dropping his ankle and letting him stand upright. “C’mon, c’mon, dinner’s gonna be late, and we have guests.”

“Guests?” Ace repeats, blinking. “Where’d we get guests?”

“I found a stray and Haruta adopted him,” Thatch says, chivving Ace along in front of him. “C’mon, you know how cast iron is–”

“I know, I know, I’m going! It’s not like–”

Ace crashes to a stop and Thatch crashes into his back. “Ace?” he asks.

“Who,” Ace says flatly, “is that.”

“Who, blue boy here?” Haruta says, looking up. “We’re calling him Blue ‘cause he won’t tell us his name.”

Blue glances up from his potato and grins. “Nice to meet you!”

“No, it’s not,” Ace says. “What are you doing here?”

Blue blinks. “Just passing through?”

Ace’s shoulders and back ignite, and his hands clench into fists. “Don’t lie,” he says. “You don’t lie to me.”

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean?” Blue says, putting on a clueless smile. Haruta side-eyes him, then scoots away.

“Who are you,” Ace repeats. “And how did you find me?”

“I really don’t–” the kid starts, and Ace growls. It’s low and threatening, and Thatch inches back, but the kid just huffs and throws up his hands. “I’m sure it wouldn’t be hard to find you; it’s not like you’re subtle. But I’m really just here for the food; I wasn’t looking for you or anyone else.”

“Why not,” Ace says. It’s heavy with rage, and he’s starting to shake. “How dare you come here for anything but me.”

“Make up your mind,” the kid snaps, getting to his feet. “You’re mad that I found you; how dare I not? Talk about ego.”

Ace takes a step forward and throws a punch, and the kid tucks under it and away like it’s nothing. “Missed me,” he taunts. “Thought you were supposed to be good at this.”

“If you boys are gonna fight, take it out of my kitchen,” Thatch says, but neither of them listen. 

“Yeah, I missed you,” Ace says, and his fists light up too. “We all missed you. You made Luffy cry.”

“I–Luffy?” the guy says, stopping. He sways once in place, then blinks, and there’s suddenly something in his face that wasn’t there before. “Ace?” he says, and takes a step forward, holding out one hand. “Ace, I–”

And then the kid straight-up swoons in the middle of Thatch’s kitchen, and the only reason he doesn’t land in the basket of peeled potatoes is because Ace catches him.

Ace sinks to his knees, hauling the stranger up, but the kid is well and truly passed out. He leans down anyway and presses his forehead to the guy’s and whispers something at him.

The moment holds, and then Thatch puts his hands on his hips. “What,” he says, “was that?”

“What’d you do to him?” Haruta says, crouching down next to them. “I hope you didn’t hurt him; I like Blue.”

“Sabo,” Ace says. His hands clench tight on the guy, and when he looks up there’s tears on his face. “His name’s Sabo. And I–I think he just remembered.”

[starkitters]

Local dumbass shitilly summarizes SRMTHFG episodes

Chiro’s Girl:

Teenage hormones

Depths of Fear:

“How old are you?” “13” *Yeets child into water*

Planetoid Q:

Giant living planet vores monkey team

Magnetic Menace:

Man has hoarding problem

The Sun Riders:

Never meet your heroes, kids

Secret of the Sixth Monkey:

wE DoN’t kEeP SeCrEtS fRoM OnE aNoThEr-

Pit of Doom:

Eldritch Elevator

Thingy:

Vaccinate your damn kids, KaReN-

Flytor:

Don’t rely on technology kids!

A Man Called Krinkle:

Creepy stalker fan is creepy, o H SHIT-

Ape New World:

Man who has hoarding problem returns

Circus of Ooze:

Local team leader has a fear of clowns (don’t we all)

Hidden Fortress:

wE DoN’t kEeP SeCrEtS 2: Now with hidden apocalypse bunker

Skeleton King:

*Megalovania plays in the distance*

World of Giants:

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover

The Lords of Soturix 7:

Human brain: Ok, find the team, get home

Monkey brain: SCREEEEEEEEEE-

In The Grip of Evil:

Memories unlocked oOooOOooOOO~

Versus Chiro:

Chiro. Chiros everywhere.

Shadow Over Shuggazoom:

Typical Zombie episode every show has

The Sun Riders Return:

’Never Meet Your Heroes’ but they’re good now

Hunt for the Citadel of Bone:

Moby Dick?? Fucking space Moby Dick?? H E L L O

Snowbound:

Fun snow episode-oH SHIT ICE GREMLINS.

Wonder Fun Meat World:

Fast food is bad and you should feel bad

Skeleton King Threat:

Recap of the previous season. That, thats literally it.

Antauri’s Masters:

Oh shit it’s the jedi if they were evil. Wait what’s this about a prophecy-

I, Chiro:

Uh oh! you made a Fucky Wucky! Time to get in the Forever Box! Also AAAAAAAAAAAA-

The Savage Lands part 1:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA x2

The Savage Lands part 2:

Worm OFF the string, what will it do-

Season of the Skull:

BOYS AND GIRLS OF EVERY AGE, WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE SOMETHING STRANGE-

A Ghost in the Machinder:

MACHINES ARE SCARY-

The Stranded Seven:

Cats vs. Vampire bugs that eat electricity

Girl Trouble:

Teenage hormones 2: Electric Boogaloo

Brothers in Arms:

the Player 2s for the entire team

Monster Battle Club Now!:

First rule of Fight Club, you don’t talk about Fight Club.

Meet the Wigglenog:

Ya got three wishes bitch. Use em wisely or you die

Big Lug:

Road trip?? FUCKING ROAD TRIP??? Wait where the fuck did Chiro go-

Prototype:

Backstory for the team’s main mode of transportation

Wormhole:

Timey-Wimey-bullshit

Belly of the Beast:

Where are we going today Mrs. Frizzle?

Galactic Smash: Space Attack:

Magic future seeing crystal..oh shit there goes the planet-

Galactic Smash: Game Over:

play Videos game so planet no go boom

Incident on Ranger 7:

Creepy stalker fan returns and has lost EVEN MORE of his sanity

Ghosts of Shuggazoom:

EBONY DARKNESS DEMENTIA RAVENWAY SUMMONS FUCKING DEMENTORS

Invasion of the Vreen:

Giant cockroach invasion get the raid-

Evil Ages:

Night at the Museum but time travel shenanigans.

Night of Fear:

Face your fear of die

The Hills Have Five:

Girls day out-Oh fuck creeps.

Demon of the Deep:

Under the sea, Under the sea~! There’s eldritch horrors, in every corner, under the sea~!

Secret Society:

Local Grandparents lead a fucking CULT.

Golden Age:

Grandpa wakes up and gives us backstory

Object of Hate:

GIBSON NO.

Soul of Evil:

SPRX NO-! Ah fuck I can’t believe you done this

[shadowofmoths]

top 5 crabs players! top 5 childhood books! top 5 musicals!

crabs players!

1. sutton dreamy!! i have never once seen her contribute constructively to a blaseball game but i am in love with her, so.

2. oliver notarobot! he’s my Idol and a very good human boy made of flesh :)

3. parker parra. i just think they’re neat!

4. montgomery bullock. just because i think it’s REALLY funny that he is the physical manifestation of Montgomery County, Maryland. we call him MoCo

5. i’m putting valentine games and nagomi mcdaniel here bc they may no longer be on the team, but they are still crabs and i miss them. carcinization is forever and they will return to the oldest bay eventually!

childhood books:

1. NARNIA which is at the top bc i still read em all the time,,

2. i was fucking, obsessed w magic treehouse esp the one “christmas in camelot”

3. percy jackson, obvi.

4. 39 clues was so cool to me as a kid and then i read the synopsis awhile back? that series was BUCK WILD

5. the rly niche star wars books that i like. tried to memorize, which were the new essential guide to alien species and the new essential guide to chronology. i didn’t read star wars books, i read star wars books ABOUT star wars books.

musicals,, is SO hard to rank but i will try.

1. les mis. i pretend i have pretentious musical opinions and i do but at the end of the day i just like gay revolutionaries

2. dave malloy’s moby dick ! here’s the pretentious opinions.

3. ghost quartet!!!!!!!!!

4. great comet. this is just a malloysicals list i’m,

5. guys and dolls was the first musical i ever saw and i think it’s GREAT.

honorable mention to cats bc even if it may not be “good” it’s fun as SHIT and i appreciate musicals that are just incomprehensible, which we can tell bc ghost quartet is on here.

[ask-glados]

GLaDOS Liveplay [Part 2]

Something I forgot to mention in the last part is that in The Final Hours of Portal 2 eBook on Steam, the developers said that the reason behind the 50,000 year time skip was because they wanted to separate Portal 2 from the events of the Half Life universe. I personally think connecting the two universes could be pretty epic, so I don't understand why they're so against it. 

Here’s the quotes from the eBook:

So, apparently they have giant laser beam generators somewhere and they just portal those lasers over to each test chamber, for some reason. That's Aperture for ya, lol.

This test chamber is actually another one from Portal 1. When you walk in, GLaDOS moves the old High Energy Pellet Launcher out of the room and replaces it with a Thermal Discouragement Beam (a laser). She replaces the receptacle too.

[from Portal 1]

GLaDOS gets her first dose of that solution euphoria as you solve the first test, and she suddenly sounds more laid back. She tells you to pace yourself because she needs to keep you busy while she fixes up the facility and figures out how to replace you with less dangerous test subjects. She doesn't want to keep you around too long because you might try to escape the testing track and kill her again.

She definitely sounds more relaxed now, her initial rage wearing off as she becomes more comfortable in running the facility and being in control again. Also, apparently she was planning to replace the High Energy Pellets with Lasers back in Portal 1.

GLaDOS is still trying to corral all these panels back into line. They even appear to have little hints of personality to them, some of them spinning around playfully, and they all have round circular lights that seem to indicate an AI core. In fact, a lot of things around Aperture seem to have AI cores. It's even mentioned by GLaDOS in CO-OP that she made Atlas and P-Body out of cores she took out of scientific calculators, so apparently Aperture just puts AI cores in everything. I'll point some of them out as we go along. It'll be like a game of 'spot the AI core'!

This also ties into another thing I wanna comment on. I’ve seen people theorize about the panels and other things in the facility being like a part of GLaDOS’s body that she can feel through, and I disagree. Throughout several chambers, you can see these panels goofing off and acting as if they have a mind of their own. I think it’s only her chassis that acts as her body, and while she IS hooked up to the rest of the facility through wires, I don’t think stuff like panels being broken actually ‘hurts’ her. Let me put it this way: Her body is her chassis, and all the things in the facility connected to her chassis are like tools she’s holding. It’s like a million arms she has spread out across the facility, holding tools. So if you break one of those tools, it doesn’t hurt her, it’s just taking that tool away from her or ripping it out of her hands.

Now, she's moved past telling you how much you made her suffer and trying to make you feel sorry for her, and has moved on to try taking hits at your self-esteem and trying to make you feel guilty for it.

This elevator room looks much better since GLaDOS is fixing up the facility. There's less broken screens and you can see a much clearer view of their weird portaling laser thing, lol.

GLaDOS fixes up another test chamber just as you walk into it. She can barely keep up with you with how fast you're solving them.

And naturally, she takes another shot at your self-esteem. She doesn't actually think you are fat, she's just trying to get under your skin and upset you, because she knows that ‘weight variances�� can upset humans. She even says so in CO-OP:

"Did you know humans frown on weight variances? If you want to upset a human, just say their weight variance is above or below the norm."

She actually has protocols on how to mess with test subjects psychologically that involve taking shots at their self esteem to keep them compliant. Notice she is following the protocols listed for "orphans" when it comes to Chell. 

"Shame-based psychology." "Opportune moments to obliterate [self-]esteem." "Scorn [and] flattery used in an ironic context and naked contempt." “You’d perform this test better if you had parents.”

This is from an interactive website ApertureScience[.]com that was run by the developers before Portal 2's release. [ half-life.fandom[.]com/wiki/ApertureScience[.]com ]

She can still barely keep up with you since she's multitasking — trying to rebuild herself and the facility, as well as keep you at bay in test chambers. Once again, she tells you to slow down.

Another attempt to taunt you and lower your self-esteem.

She's still barely keeping up with you to clear your path in time and have the chambers ready.

Now she's just being petty and trying to make you feel discouraged and depressed.

Once again, she's trying to guilt-trip you by saying how she has to do all the work around here while you get to have fun with the test chambers. This is always something she's bitter about — how she does all this work and no one gives her any credit for it. Obviously, it's because she terrorizes people, but she doesn't realize that. She thinks she should be treated with intense respect, regardless.

An interesting thing to mention about the "wing of glass" she mentions here is that there is actually a deleted Cave Johnson line where he mentions building a wing of glass.

"Now, the lab boys were adamant that I do not give you any hints on these tests. To be honest, they think I'm spoiling the results just by talking to you. Hizenstein Uncertainty Principles and so forth. I’ll give ‘em something more practical to be uncertain about: their next paycheck. Anyway, overruled. If you think I'm affecting your decisions, in any way, don’t be afraid to speak up. I’m not made of glass. That reminds me: Caroline, do we have a wing made out of glass yet? Let's get on that, Caroline."

I think that makes it that much more hilarious that Caroline is now here in AI form, cleaning up his mess years later. XD

[ tcrf[.]net/Portal_2_(Windows,_Mac_OS_X,_Linux)/Unused_Lines ]

She's still trying to keep up with you and move the panels out of your way in time. She's slowly but surely catching up.

She's still taking shots at your self-esteem, and she couldn’t even bear to be subtle about it, so she literally explains the insult just to make sure you got the metaphor.

And she’s still trying to make you feel guilty for killing her.

The Companion Cubes were created to test how test subjects could gain an emotional attachment to an inanimate object. At the end of the Companion Cube chamber in the first Portal, you were forced to "betray" your inanimate "friend" by incinerating it. So, here GLaDOS tries to get under your skin by destroying the cube multiple times and calling it worthless, implying that you don't deserve friends and that any friendship you thought you had in any Companion Cube is worthless.

Also, a neat little detail: if you listen closely, the Companion Cube plays the tune of "Cara Mia."

She's still having trouble fixing up the facility, but she's getting there. She's been working on fixing the nuclear reactor core, which was nearing meltdown back at the beginning of the game, as mentioned by the Announcer in the Relaxation Center. The reactor core splits atoms to boil water into steam, and that steam turns the turbines, which are what power the generator to create electricity, which is why you see the lights flicker when the turbines start giving her trouble. The turbine's fan blades are likely heavily corroded, rusted, or gunked up after all this time, so she has to leave to attend to that. She manages to find a quick way to taunt you by pretending to give you a sped-up hint that she knows is beyond a human's hearing comprehension — just another way to flaunt her superiority as a supercomputer to you.

What she actually says is a quote from the very first paragraph of Moby Dick:

"And methodically knocking people's hats off. Then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can."

This could be a subtle fat joke because whale = fat. But Moby Dick is also a tale about a man's obsession with revenge against a whale who bit off his leg, and GLaDOS is clearly obsessed with revenge, so I wouldn't be surprised if this was a favorite book of hers that she decided to quote from. Also, if you look at the context of this line in the paragraph it comes from, it's talking about this guy saying that when he gets angry enough to "knock people's hats off," he knows he has to get to sea and hunt that whale to vent that rage.

GLaDOS isn't there to comment when you beat this test because she's busy fixing the turbines, which ends Chapter 2, and also Part 2 of this Liveplay! I really hope you're enjoying it! :D